1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to inflation stems for tires, tubes or other inflatable objects, through they are inflated on motor vehicles, pedal-driven vehicles, airplanes, trailers, garden equipment, etc.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There have been previous inventions for releasing excess pressure from tires, tubes or other inflatable objects, but none that are equivalent to the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,859,849, issued on Jan. 14, 1975, to Greg A. Novak, discloses a valve stem pressure indicator, that releases air and whistles when the pressure in a tire is above a set level. As the air pressure increases, a piston valve is moved upward past a whistle aperture. The instant invention is distinguishable, in that it has a separate chamber to isolate incoming high pressure, an intake going deep into the tire, and its blow-off gasket is moved down as pressure increases, until it passes the blow-off port.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,015,623, issued on Apr. 5, 1977, to Gregory E. Wanstreet, discloses a tire valve with pressure release means, with separate flow passages for air being pumped in and air being released out, which are not in a single stem, and are without an isolated pressure tap, as in the instant invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,064,897, issued on Dec. 27, 1977, to Rudiger Weber, discloses a tire filler valve arrangement, with an overpressure valve in its side, rather than having coaxial moving parts, as in the instant invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,246,930, issued on Jan. 27, 1981, to William V. Bishop and Donald L. Richards, discloses a relief valve for racing car tires, without an isolated pressure tap, as in the instant invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,445,527, issued on May 1, 1984, to Richard C. Leimbach, discloses a tire valve extension including a relief valve, which is screwed onto a tire stem, rather than being a replacement for the tire stem, and without an isolated pressure tap, as in the instant invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,306, issued on Sep. 26, 1989, to Kenneth B. Keys, discloses an air inlet and automatic pressure adjustment device for a tire, having a large outer cylinder through air is pumped in, and a small inner cylinder through which air can be released, with the two cylinders having a partially common wall, and not having coaxial moving parts, nor having a separate intake for the release valve, as in the instant invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,604, issued on Jul. 9, 1991, to Semyon Spektor, Mark Gozokhovsky and Ilya Zhabokrug, discloses a safety core for a tire valve, that is screwed into the valve's housing. The instant invention is distinguishable, in that its blow-off valve is only actuated when the tire is being inflated.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,511, issued on Oct. 8, 1991, to C. T. Tuan and T. L. Duan, discloses a tire valve having an automatic pressure release device, with spring and ball valves that are not used in the instant invention, and without the isolated pressure tap of the instant invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,977, issued on Jan. 26, 1993, to Donald R. Gneiding and Oscar J. Peterson, discloses a tire inflation valve having overpressure and flow control, which shuts off the intake when the pressure of incoming air exceeds a pre-determined value, rather than limiting internal tire pressure as in the instant invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,365,967, issued on Nov. 22, 1994, to John C. Moore, discloses a safety tire valve, that releases over-inflation air through a whistling reed configuration. The instant invention is distinguishable, in that it has a blow-off intake that is separate from the inflation intake, which will only release air when the tire is being filled.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,694,969, issued on Dec. 9, 1997, to Christopher DeVuyst, discloses a pressure relief tire valve, without a separate blow-off intake, as in the instant invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,923, issued on Jul. 14, 1998, to Philip William Marston, discloses an anti-seepage self-gauging inflation valve system. The instant invention is distinguishable, in that in it the blow-off chamber seal and filling chamber seal are connected to same shaft, and both are activated by a chuck pin, rather than one by the chuck pin and the other by the chuck body.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,296,010, issued on Oct. 2, 2001, to Gerard Michael DeLauer, discloses an automatic shut-off air pressure valve for tires, having a double stem, rather than a single stem as in the instant invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,302,138, issued on Oct. 16, 2001, to Dirk Lee Sumrall, discloses a pressure indicating valve and core, without a blow-off intake from deep in the interior of the tire, as in the instant invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,948,516, issued on Sep. 27, 2005, to Harold Williams, discloses an excess tire air pressure relief valve, and an inflation valve in a separate location, not in the same tire stem as in the instant invention.
PCT International Publication No. WO 02/062595 A1, published on Aug. 15, 2002, to Vaughan Grant and Stephen John Furlonger, discloses a pressure relief valve that is removably inserted into a tire stem.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention.